I was born in 1959 near my hometown, Skaneateles, in central New York, where I first encountered skating on the frozen Skaneateles lake. I took my first lessons at the age of 11. My parents, brother, and sister, bid me farewell when I relocated to Brynmaur, PA, at the age of 15 to pursue my skating career. After a year, I relocated to Buffalo, NY, and in 1980 moved to Wilmington, DE, and now I reside in Newark, DE.

I competed in ice dancing at the 1984 Winter Olympics with Eliza Spitz/Luliano. I then paired with Suzanne Semanick/Schurman, with whom I won the gold medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships twice, ranked fifth in the World (serving as a World team member seven consecutive times), and competed at the Olympics in1988. I retired from competitive skating at 28 due to back injuries. After graduating from two New York high schools, Skaneateles and Amherst Central, I gathered credits from Buffalo State, Philadelphia College of Arts, and the University of Delaware. In essence, I joke that I gained a masters degree in skating from my ten year amateur pursuits.

I have coached local, national, and international skaters, including Tara Lapinski from the ages of 6 to 12, who then went on to win the 1998 Winter Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating at the age of 15.

I have been married to my lovely wife Pam, since 1995, who is in her own right one of the best coaches in the skating world, Our daughter, Victoria, was born in 1998 and is a great joy watching her grow and mature. Snappy, our turtle, came to live with us when Victoria was in third grade; he was the size of a quarter and is now the size of a softball. We also have a yellow English Lab named Polly that thinks she’s still a puppy even though she passed the six-year mark a while ago.

Ever since the 1988 Olympics, I have entertained the idea of writing a book to inspire people and help them overcome adversities. Then, in 2006, I attended a writers’ conference. From that time on, I describe my journey and experience as “long and grueling but exciting and fun.” Stay tuned . . . I even have ideas for one or more sequels to Champion Mindset.